Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Lest anyone doubt that the production facility for LeafLine Labs, one of two Minnesota manufacturers of medical cannabis, is secure, bear this in mind:
When Dr. Andrew Bachman, co-founder and chief medical officer of the company, tried to lead a media group through the 42,000-square-foot facility on Wednesday, he initially was denied admittance.
"Sorry, we cannot confirm your identity," a metallic voice squawked out of the retinal scanner.
It took Bachman, an emergency room doctor who is a member of the Bachman's Florists family, a second stare at the silver box to gain the entourage admittance to the inner passages of the building, which just opened on June 1.
The centerpiece was a room that would have drawn the interest of Minnesota law officers a year ago: Lit with glaring sodium lights, it was filled with 2,500 marijuana plants -- 20 varieties in various states of growth.
Cared for by staffers wearing dark sunglasses and scrubs, it's called the propagation room. It's housed in an unremarkable, two-tone concrete-slab building in an out-of-the-way business park in this Twin Cities suburb.
The plants grow from seedling to maturity in about 55 days, said Jon Lane, a veteran of the medical marijuana industry in Colorado who was lured to Minnesota to serve as head of cultivation operations for LeafLine Labs. The flowering phase -- during which buds are harvested and the medicine can be extracted -- lasts about 60 days, Lane said.
But where did the seeds come from in the first place?
"Immaculate conception," Bachman joked, then added: "That's proprietary information."
A large-scale harvest occurred last week, meaning that not all phases were in full operation for the sake of the media visitors.
"Just to be clear: July 1 is what this program is all about," Bachman said. "It's about medicine that's due to patients who've waited too long to obtain it."
He was referring to the date when LeafLine Labs and its lone rival, Minnesota Medical Solutions, will for the first time be able to sell medical marijuana in the state to patients certified to have certain conditions such as glaucoma, some symptoms or side effects of cancer, and seizures.
Minnesota Medical Solutions will have its first distribution center in Minneapolis; LeafLine Labs in Eagan. By July 1 of next year eight centers are expected to be open.
But it will take time to get there, a state official cautioned.
"This is not a race," said Michelle Larson, director of the Minnesota Department of Health's Office of Medical Cannabis, during a brief ceremony outside the building. "This program is rolling out slowly."
Still, the industry has had to develop quickly. It was barely more than a year ago when Gov. Mark Dayton signed the legislation that made Minnesota a medical cannabis state. It took until December for the Office of Medical Cannabis to choose the two companies allowed to grow and sell the product.
For LeafLine Labs, part of the challenge was building a production facility in what had been a soybean field.
"If you would have looked at this site six months ago, this was just a bunch of dirt," Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey said."
The marijuana was grown and processed in a temporary facility until the new building was ready for use on June 1, Lane said.
Close to 20 people work at the facility, Bachman said.
Any doubts about the effectiveness of medical marijuana were not in evidence at Wednesday's event. Mayor Bailey said he saw it as a way to provide jobs for Cottage Grove while giving people access to better quality lives through pharmaceutical products.
Bachman said medical cannabis will help "patients who want an alternative to overused, dangerous and often abused prescription drugs," he said.
Minnesota now has a law, Bachman said, "that (will) allow parents to stop their kids from having hundreds of seizures a day without the dangers of self-treatment."
"In two weeks we'll see those patients for the first time, and we will make history together," Bachman said. "We will drop the stigma and the doubt and prove that medical cannabis is a viable option."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Minnesota marijuana grower offers look inside greenhouse | Prairie Business Magazine | Grand Forks, ND
Author: John Lundy
Contact: info@prairiebizmag.com
Photo Credit: Katharine Grayson
Website: Prairie Business Magazine | Grand Forks, ND
When Dr. Andrew Bachman, co-founder and chief medical officer of the company, tried to lead a media group through the 42,000-square-foot facility on Wednesday, he initially was denied admittance.
"Sorry, we cannot confirm your identity," a metallic voice squawked out of the retinal scanner.
It took Bachman, an emergency room doctor who is a member of the Bachman's Florists family, a second stare at the silver box to gain the entourage admittance to the inner passages of the building, which just opened on June 1.
The centerpiece was a room that would have drawn the interest of Minnesota law officers a year ago: Lit with glaring sodium lights, it was filled with 2,500 marijuana plants -- 20 varieties in various states of growth.
Cared for by staffers wearing dark sunglasses and scrubs, it's called the propagation room. It's housed in an unremarkable, two-tone concrete-slab building in an out-of-the-way business park in this Twin Cities suburb.
The plants grow from seedling to maturity in about 55 days, said Jon Lane, a veteran of the medical marijuana industry in Colorado who was lured to Minnesota to serve as head of cultivation operations for LeafLine Labs. The flowering phase -- during which buds are harvested and the medicine can be extracted -- lasts about 60 days, Lane said.
But where did the seeds come from in the first place?
"Immaculate conception," Bachman joked, then added: "That's proprietary information."
A large-scale harvest occurred last week, meaning that not all phases were in full operation for the sake of the media visitors.
"Just to be clear: July 1 is what this program is all about," Bachman said. "It's about medicine that's due to patients who've waited too long to obtain it."
He was referring to the date when LeafLine Labs and its lone rival, Minnesota Medical Solutions, will for the first time be able to sell medical marijuana in the state to patients certified to have certain conditions such as glaucoma, some symptoms or side effects of cancer, and seizures.
Minnesota Medical Solutions will have its first distribution center in Minneapolis; LeafLine Labs in Eagan. By July 1 of next year eight centers are expected to be open.
But it will take time to get there, a state official cautioned.
"This is not a race," said Michelle Larson, director of the Minnesota Department of Health's Office of Medical Cannabis, during a brief ceremony outside the building. "This program is rolling out slowly."
Still, the industry has had to develop quickly. It was barely more than a year ago when Gov. Mark Dayton signed the legislation that made Minnesota a medical cannabis state. It took until December for the Office of Medical Cannabis to choose the two companies allowed to grow and sell the product.
For LeafLine Labs, part of the challenge was building a production facility in what had been a soybean field.
"If you would have looked at this site six months ago, this was just a bunch of dirt," Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey said."
The marijuana was grown and processed in a temporary facility until the new building was ready for use on June 1, Lane said.
Close to 20 people work at the facility, Bachman said.
Any doubts about the effectiveness of medical marijuana were not in evidence at Wednesday's event. Mayor Bailey said he saw it as a way to provide jobs for Cottage Grove while giving people access to better quality lives through pharmaceutical products.
Bachman said medical cannabis will help "patients who want an alternative to overused, dangerous and often abused prescription drugs," he said.
Minnesota now has a law, Bachman said, "that (will) allow parents to stop their kids from having hundreds of seizures a day without the dangers of self-treatment."
"In two weeks we'll see those patients for the first time, and we will make history together," Bachman said. "We will drop the stigma and the doubt and prove that medical cannabis is a viable option."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Minnesota marijuana grower offers look inside greenhouse | Prairie Business Magazine | Grand Forks, ND
Author: John Lundy
Contact: info@prairiebizmag.com
Photo Credit: Katharine Grayson
Website: Prairie Business Magazine | Grand Forks, ND
